as Enemies of Mankind, 



43 



of cats and traps. Mice are not, as a rule, suspicious of traps ; 

 almost any trap and any bait will take a mouse. In places where 

 there is an abundance of attractive food it is usually well to bait 

 the traps with a delicacy rare in the locality ; for instance, cheese 

 may be a good bait in a fishmonger's shop, while fish might be 

 irresistible to the mice of the cheesemonger. 



4. Protection of the natural enemies of mice. 



Many birds and beasts prey upon mice. The most important 

 in this respect are owls, of all species, and weasels ; these creatures 

 should be most carefully protected. It should be recognized by all 

 interested in agriculture that they have no better and no stronger 

 friends than these. Everybody on the countryside, from the squire 

 to the schoolboy, should be taught to look upon the wanton 

 destruction of an owl or a weasel as one of the blackest crimes 

 possible amid rural surroundings. 



3. THE BALANCE OF NATURE AND THE 

 PROTECTION OF CARNIYORA. 



During the passage of this work through the press, the recom- 

 mendation that Stoats and Weasels should be fully protected 

 (p. 33) has met with some adverse criticism. In making that 

 recommendation the writer is fully acquainted with the views 

 commonly held by gamekeepers ;* and he is perfectly well aware 

 that the majority of them will disagree with him. 



The recommendation may be supported by an appeal to first 

 principles, so well known that to many it will seem unnecessary 

 to recite them here ; the necessity to recall them arises from the 

 fact that apparently they are forgotten sometimes, when dealing 

 with questions of this kind. Besides, a short statement as to what 

 is meant by the Balance of Nature " may not be unwelcome to 

 the reader without technical knowledge. 



If any organism were allowed to increase at its natural rate of 

 multiplication unchecked it would speedily fill the whole surface 

 of the globe to the exclusion of all other beings. Each species is 

 kept in check primarily by having to compete for space with all 

 other species ; apart from innumerable other factors, this alone is 



* For recent expressions of such views, vide correspondence in The Game- 

 keeper, December, 1917, February and May, 1918 ; also Gunther, pp. 53 

 and 63. 



